Finosh G. Thankam, PhD Western University of Health Sciences, USA

Finosh G Thankam, PhD., is presently a faculty of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine in the department of Translational Research at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California. His research interest is mainly based on the investigations of the molecular pathology and translational approaches in musculoskeletal and cardiovascular biology. His research and publications contribute to upgrade the understanding of interdisciplinary approaches of basic biology and tissue engineering for the management of CVDs and musculoskeletal diseases. His findings have led to unveil the underlying pathological mechanisms of rotator cuff tendinopathies which includes ECM pathology, mitochondrial pathology, immunology and sterile inflammation. His idea of the combination of pathological mechanisms as therapeutic interventions with biomaterials science and tissue engineering to basic medical research is promising and offers immense clinical significance. He has significant experience in the design and fabrication of biocompatible hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering and as delivery vehicles for cells and signaling mediators. These hydrogels have been hailed for their superior features to be applicable for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. Some of these hydrogels were designed with exceptional free radical scavenging effects, 3D architecture, biocompatibility and tissue-mimetics. Also, he is working on therapeutic vesicles including exosomes and multi-functional hydrogel systems for exosome delivery and tissue engineering for the regeneration of tendon-to-bone interface and cardiovascular system. Apart from CVDs and musculoskeletal research, he has experience in neurobiology, oro-dental biology, microbiology and phytochemistry. He continues to pursue additional translational lines of research to utilize his research experiences for the contribution to the field of translational medicine.